seinheiser 609, mackie mixer, sound card suggestions?

[jjr0319]

i know this question has been asked numerous times, but i couldnt resist asking again. sorry to all for the annoyance.

anyway, im fairly new to recording (about 3 years). i only record vocals and guitar. for the past 3 years i have been recording the guitars direct. yep, just straight into my yamaha sound card (stock card) on my dinky laptop. anyway, i finally got a really nice amp, a Fender Hot Rod Deville 212, and i love it. ive decided to start recording the amp with a mic to capture the great tone. i have two mics, a marshall mxl1006 condenser (which i use for vocals), and a shure sm58 (which i no longer use). i went to the guitar center and the guy said this seinheiser E609 mic was specifically made for guitar amp recording.

i guess what i want to know is if thats a good choice or not? or if there's anything better? i was also interested in building some type of soundproof box for my amp. i have no idea how to go about this.

oh yeah, two more things:

1) i dont even have a mixer, but definetly want one. i was thinking about the mackie 1202 VLZ. i dont need many channels, but would like a few extra just in case something comes up. any comments on this?

2) i am in the process of building a new computer (P4, 800mhz FSB, 1 GB DDR RAM, etc..) Any suggestions for a soundcard? i dont need anything real elaborate since i just want to plug a mixer into it. I was looking at the sound blaster audigys? should i go with something more recording related (aka more expensive) like an echo or aardvark?

thanks in advance for all the help, and to those who have heard these same newbie questions, sorry again.

 

[noisedude]

just a point - maybe split your questions up in future and put them each on the relevant boards. that way you'll get people who are there on that particular area to answer you.

i'll tell you what i know and then others will come and correct my mistakes etc.

IMO it's way more important to learn how to record a guitar amp and discover positioning techniques than get a slightly better mic as you're starting out. if you want a cheap "will try anything" LD condenser then there are recommendations to be had on this board. someone who knows about this particular senn will tell you their thoughts on it for guitar amps.

before you get a mixer, decide whether you REALLY need one. the mackie is a good choice, but maybe you would be better served getting a dedicated preamp, if you only record one track at a time. for less than the mixer you can get a better pre such as the M-Audio DMP3 (yeah i know it's two channels!) or the SP VTB1 or the Focusrite Trakmaster. if you want a little mixer still, get a behringer for mixing your outgoing sounds. I ONLY RECOMMEND A BEHRINGER IN THIS CASE COS IT WOULDNT BE IN YOUR RECORDING CHAIN. hopefully i wont get flamed now!

finally. the key with sound cards is good AD/DA converters. don't even consider the Audigy if you genuinely want to make a half-decent sound. the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 sounds perfect for you as it doesn't have loads of ins and outs, but has the same converters as more expensive cards. a mixer plugged into the sound card can only increase noise, which is why i suggest a pre and doing your EQ etc 'in the box', where the controls are probably better in your software than on a mixer anyway.

hope that helps - suggestions people?

 

[noisedude]

actually i have a better idea. with the cost of the mackie you can get a better pre, and get a yamaha MG series desk as well if you want.....then i don't get in trouble for suggesting behringer to you!!

 

[PinkStrat]

Happy New Year noisedude,

Have you actually heard the Yamaha MG Series mixers yet? I started out with their smallest mixer the MG 10/2 but was able to upgrade to the MG 12/4 as a result of me getting an Otari MX-5050 quarter-inch two track analog machine. I've found the Yamaha MG mixers to be very good and sound really quite amazing. Way better than Mackie anyday... in a heartbeat! Check them out.

 

[noisedude]

happy new year to you too!

i've not listened against a mackie, the only mackie i've actually used regularly is a CFX12 live. in the shop i found the pres to not be much noisier than the IMPs in the Behr UB series, but didn't listen properly to the different sounds.

i have listened to the yamahas against the behringers and i agree that they're superb value and it's quite scary that they've managed to put something that much better out for such a similar price to behri.

so dunno bout taking them over mackie but if you think that highly of them i guess they must be worth a comparison!!

 

[Rocket Boy]

i have an e609s and a Mackie 1604 mixer. i want to upgrade the pre's eventually(ive only tried with the mackie and an audio buddy), but once i got the amplifier set, i think it sounds really nice.